This invention relates to fishing tackle accessories and more particularly to an adjustable holder for fishing rods.
Fishermen have long been plagued by how to securely hold a fishing rod in a boat, particularly while trolling, or on a fishing dock or pier, while waiting for a fish to strike. Fishermen have tried to solve this problem by just laying the rod in the boat while trolling or laying the rod on the dock or pier. However, while trolling if the lure or hook strikes an obstruction the rod can easily be jerked out of the boat, losing the rod, reel and lure, or at best, the rod may break or be damaged. If a fish violently strikes the boat or lure, the rod may be pulled overboard both in the situation while trolling from a boat or while fishing from a dock or pier. In addition, if one fisherman in a boat is trolling and another is casting, it often results in tangling of lines unless the trolling rod can be kept in a low profile position.
There have been attempts to solve this problem, the simplest being a tube that mounts in a boat and which can be secured permanently in a vertical position for loosely holding a fishing rod handle. But the fishing rod must be maintained in a generally vertical position or it will slide out of the tube, and on "hard" strikes or if the hook catches on an obstruction the rod will be subject to being jerked overboard.
Other attempts have been made to devise adjustable, pivoting holders and the like, but they have been limited in the positioning of the rod with respect to the boat or other structural member to which they have been mounted, or the means for securing the rod handle in the holder does not have a convenient means for adjusting to differing size and configurations of rod handles, or does not provide for a "quick-release" of the rod handle, but involves turning screws and fumbling with the holder, thereby wasting time in the event of a strike by a fish. This prior art is illustrated by the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 2,548,351; 2,954,909; 3,161,390; 3,802,112; 3,897,922; 3,903,634; and 4,017,998.
However, none of the prior art devices have included the features of being adjustable for accommodating a wide variety of rod sizes and configurations, permit the securely locked rod to be positioned anywhere from a generally vertical position to a generally horizontal position in a boat, and provide a "quickrelease" mechanism for instantaneously releasing the rod handle from the holder.